Preliminary Validation of the Pain-related Prayer Scale (PPRAYERS): An Exploratory Factor Analysis

Abstract

Previous research on prayer as a pain coping strategy is mixed, with some studies associating prayer practices with greater pain and others with less. To date there is only one measure of pain-related prayer, the prayer subscale of the Coping Strategies Questionnaire-Revised (CSQ-R), which solely measures passive prayer, thus neglecting other types of petitionary prayer (i.e., active and neutral prayer). Therefore, to better understand the relationship between pain and prayer there is a need for a more comprehensive measure of petitionary prayer for pain. The aim of this study is to conduct a preliminary validation of the newly developed Pain-related Prayer Scale (PPRAYERS), a 22-item self-report questionnaire that asks participants to rate the frequency of their use of various petitionary prayer statements to God or a Higher Power in response to pain. Statements included active, passive, and neutral petitionary prayer statements. Two hundred and five adults with chronic pain completed a series of demographic, health, and pain-related questionnaires including the PPRAYERS. A maximum likelihood factor analysis with an oblimin rotation was used to examine the underlying factor structure of PPRAYERS. The scree plot and factor eigenvalues (>1) were evaluated. Factor loadings (>0.30) and cross-loadings were used to evaluate individual items. Congruent with theory, analysis yielded three factors, neutral, passive, and active prayer, that explained 40%, 15%, and 10% of the total variance, respectively. All but four items demonstrated primary loadings on one factor with primary loadings >0.5 and a difference between primary and secondary loadings >0.2. These results provide preliminary validation for PPRAYERS that measures active-, passive-, and neutral-style petitionary prayer. Additional research by the authors is ongoing to confirm the factor structure of the measure and provide evidence for convergent and discriminant validity by examining the associations between PPRAYERS and existing relevant measures. Grant support from 2021 Episcopal Church United Thank Offering Grant.